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Carrier Comparisons 3 min read

Consumer Cellular vs Cricket Wireless: Which AT&T MVNO Wins?

Same AT&T network, opposite targets: if you're 50+, Consumer Cellular's $35 unlimited beats Cricket by $20/month. Under 50, Cricket wins on every dimension. The full breakdown.

Jean Gilles
Founder & Lead Analyst, ShopCellPlans
Published May 31, 2026
Updated May 31, 2026
Identical towers, opposite pricing models — age is the deciding variable.

Consumer Cellular and Cricket Wireless both run on AT&T's nationwide network, both offer retail support, and both are established, reliable MVNOs — but they target completely different users. The short version: 50 or older, Consumer Cellular's $35/month unlimited beats Cricket Supreme's $55 on pure price; under 50, Cricket wins on both price ($55 vs $65) and features (HBO Max, 50GB hotspot, priority data).

Key takeaways
50+ → Consumer Cellular Unlimited at $35/mo ($33.25 with AARP) wins decisively.
Under 50 → Cricket wins on every dimension; there's no case for Consumer Cellular at $65.
Cricket Supreme's priority data and 50GB dedicated hotspot are the premium features that matter.
Coverage is identical — both are AT&T's towers; the choice is pricing model and perks.

The plans, head to head

  • Price, 50+: Consumer Cellular $35/mo vs Cricket Supreme $55/mo (no age discount).
  • Price, 18–49: Consumer Cellular $65/mo vs Cricket $55/mo.
  • Data: Consumer Cellular 35GB high-speed then slowed, deprioritized; Cricket Supreme unlimited with priority.
  • Hotspot: shared with data vs 50GB dedicated on Cricket.
  • Extras: Cricket includes HBO Max (with ads) + 150GB cloud storage; Consumer Cellular bundles nothing.
  • Mexico/Canada: pay-per-use vs unlimited roaming on Cricket.
  • Trial: 30 days (45 with AARP) vs Cricket's 14-day return.
  • Taxes & fees: extra ($3–10/mo by state) vs included in Cricket's price.
  • Customer service: Consumer Cellular is U.S.-based and J.D. Power top-rated; Cricket rates average.

The five differences that decide it

  1. Age-based pricing — the decisive factor. 50+ saves $240/year with Consumer Cellular; under-50 saves $120/year with Cricket. The threshold is rigidly verified.
  2. Priority vs deprioritized data — Cricket Supreme keeps full speed during congestion; Consumer Cellular slows when AT&T is busy. Matters in dense metros at 5–9 PM; barely matters in suburbs on Wi-Fi.
  3. Hotspot — Cricket's 50GB is dedicated; Consumer Cellular's shares the 35GB allotment. Heavy tetherers should not pick Consumer Cellular.
  4. Included extras — Cricket bundles HBO Max (~$10/mo value) and 150GB cloud storage; Consumer Cellular bundles nothing but discounts (AARP 5% → $33.25/mo effective).
  5. Taxes — Cricket's price is all-in; Consumer Cellular adds $3–10/mo depending on state, which narrows the senior discount in high-tax states.

Multi-line math

All-50+ household: Consumer Cellular is extraordinary — $25/line at 2 lines, $21.67/line at 3. Mixed-age family: Cricket wins, since under-50 lines pay Consumer Cellular's full $65 while Cricket Supreme drops to $32.50/line at 4 lines — competitive even against Big Three postpaid.

The service-quality asterisk
Consumer Cellular is J.D. Power's top-rated prepaid customer service multiple years running — U.S.-based, patient, walkthrough-style help. For first-time smartphone users, that justifies a small premium even where Cricket's math looks better.

Choose neither if…

You want the cheapest AT&T-network plan regardless of age (Pure Talk, Red Pocket, H2O undercut both), you want multi-network flexibility (US Mobile switches among all three networks), or you want postpaid perks (AT&T Prepaid Unlimited at $65 or AT&T direct).

The full AT&T-network field

Every meaningful AT&T MVNO ranked — coverage, priority, price, and who each one fits.

Best AT&T MVNOs →
#Consumer Cellular #Cricket Wireless #AT&T MVNOs #Seniors
Jean Gilles
About the author

Jean Gilles has researched personal finance, consumer technology, and wireless pricing for over a decade. He founded ShopCellPlans in 2019 and writes every review on the site.

Frequently asked questions

Are they on the same network? +
Yes — both use AT&T's nationwide 5G/4G LTE network, so coverage is identical at most addresses. Consumer Cellular has some T-Mobile fallback in select areas.
Is Consumer Cellular only for seniors? +
No — anyone can subscribe, but adults 18–49 pay $65/month for the same unlimited plan that costs 50+ customers $35. The pricing, not the product, is age-gated.
Does either offer a free trial? +
Consumer Cellular offers a 30-day money-back trial (45 days for AARP members) — among the longest in the industry. Cricket has only a 14-day return policy.
What happens after 35GB on Consumer Cellular? +
Speeds slow (roughly 128 Kbps–1 Mbps) for the rest of the cycle — no cutoff. Per the company, ~80% of its 50+ customers use under 5GB/month and never notice.
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